So I've been gone for a month or so for school, but now since it is officially summer time for us down here in Texas, I finally get to do my own art projects. I haven't been able to animate and finish the projects I was working on in like February, but I plan on getting back to them starting today. Man am I glad summer is here.

I will be completing a cartoon for a release on the first of June, and will be completing Wizard Kin sometime in July. During that time, I will continue doing designs on my spare time, such as t-shirt designs and toy designs (oh joy! :3)

So look out for some new cartoons from me soon. Now I can work for a full 3 months without any interruptions from school. Also, I'll be launching up a personal website later this month, so make sure you look out for that

Well that's all the news I have right now. I made a new t-shirt design this week while I was eating sandwiches hahah. ,If you have a woot account, vote for it on the website here

The design is called "Airheads" by the way since the theme was Air. I'll leave a pic of the design below

My friends Andrew Sinclair and Sam Willson are in a band called Approaching Nirvana. You may have heard of them here on Newgrounds seeing as they have about four awesome songs in the audio portal, one of which was song of the week at one point (can't think of what week it was). If you haven't heard there songs yet, here they are below:
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen /220452
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen /214026
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen /211879
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen /211557

Anyways, they are currently trying to collect some money in order to start playing actual shows. They aren't asking for any donations, but they are entering contest and working on an E.P to get the cash flow going. They are on our stage with two songs up for best of the month in two different categories. If you have the time, go to the the links below and vote for them in the judging booth. You may have to register to vote though. Even a quick listen to the song will help or adding them to your favs:
Heaven's Storm-Techno
I'm Alright-Indie Pop

Also, I help them with some artwork when they need it (especially when I was working on their myspace page from scratch). Make sure you check them out of myspace as well and add them if you get the chance :)

Approaching Nirvana on Myspace

So, that's about it. On animation news, I'm still working on Wizard Kin and got a lot done during Spring Break. Hopefully it'll be finished in mid April, but who knows. I just finished my animation project for my Animation class and it came out pretty average. Nothing super incredible, just good enough to get a B. Later in May I have to do a group stop motion project so I'll be making a music video for Approaching Nirvana in May for class. Should be really awesome. Haven't done stop motion before but I'm pretty sure I won't suck too bad.

Also, I'll be making some gear for Approaching Nirvana gear to sell in due time. I'm still coming up with some concepts that don't have any typography on them so it will appeal to more people. Next week I'll have some animation news though. Its been a busy week :P

So during school, our teacher wanted us to mess with drawing on canvas shoes. I have to say, it's really fun to just design shoes. So, I started making some while I had time too and came up with a dad n' me shoe. I just did it for fun really.

Also, I'm still working on wizard kin, and I don't know when its gonna be done. Hopefully soon. I have to animate like for school on nothing put paper. So i've been doing a ton of drawings to get this traditional animation done. I'll end up putting all my school work as a submission to newgrounds at the end up this semester, so look forward to that I guess.

I don't have much news because of school. I've been working on my portfolio website too since we have to make a complete website by the end of march, so that should be done soon as well.

I'll just leave you guys with the dad n' me shoe i made :). Hope you like it Tom

I woke up this morning with a clear vision of what I want and need to do for this year in order to get my freelance career off the ground

1. Website
One of the most important things that I need to do is create a website. Since I'm taking a class for web design, I'll be able to make my own website as a project and launch it sometime in June. I think this would be beneficial in having a place for people to see my artwork, news, and everything in one location. It will also give me a professional look as well. I always wanted to have my own website. I was actually planning on opening a web shop, but decided it would be best to have a portfolio type of website. I figured since I'll be entering alot of design contest of different natures, that I will just make a web page where I link to places were you can buy designs created by me that are winning submissions or something like that

2. Get in Galleries
The next thing I want to do is have my artwork in atleast two galleries. I plan on making some very large and well thought out prints during March, so look out for that.

3. Make a flash game
I plan on making just one flash game this year. The reason why I am only shooting for one is because I am going to be way to busy with designing that I won't have any time asside for it. Hopefully I can finish a game by October

4. Finish Wizard Kin and atleast one other animation
Wizard Kin is gonna take most of my time more than any other project this year. I might have to actually cut corners to get it done in March. After Wizard Kin, that will be it for a while. I'll be mainly focusing on designing t-shirts, prints, shoes, and etc. As much as I love animating, I have to look at what's more important for my portfolio and stuff. I have enough animations to show in my portfolio and I'll have animation projects that I have to do for school that will take up mucho time hahah

5. Make as many designs as I can
During the year I will be breaking my back to make designs for shoes, t-shirts, hoodies, decks, and an array of other things for my portfolio. This is looking to be one of my busiest years yet

6. Purchase a DV camera
Hopefully I can save up enough money to buy a tricked out dv camera to start making short films and shoot some cool photography. I'll need about 6000 for the camera that I am thinking of. I'm hoping to also open myself up to filming concerts on my spare time. Animal Collective is coming to Austin in June so hopefully I can get one by then and get a press pass so I can film and take some photographs

7. Work on my writing
Last year I wrote my first script as practice. I haven't sold it yet and I probably don't plan on selling it, but this year I want to finish my script for a graphic novel I have in mind that will hopefully go into production next year and finish a script called Marinate with Knives that is still sitting quietly on my computer. It's a comedy and it's turning out pretty well. I actually plan on selling that one seeing as I want to write something differently if I ever plan on filming something myself

That's about everything I can think of at the moment, I'll be giving updates and stuff as always. Once I launch my website, this blog page will become obsolete :(. Haha can't wait to see how it will turn out

So I am diligently working to finish Wizard Kin which will come out to a good 5 minutes. I am working with Lefthandedsock who conceived the story and concept for the cartoon (he also wrote the story). What this will end up being is a pilot that will hopefully be shown to different networks and even online places. If we don't get anyone to bite, than it already has a place right here on newgrounds.

Luis will be doing the backgrounds, so (as you can below), that is why u are only seeing a rough draft of the background. Right now, we are in the process of getting all the line animation done, which should take about 4 more weeks.... I know guys I know hahah. Lefthandedsock, will be working on the lip sync, expressions and color for the animation. I of course am doing all the main animation, and im making it all as smooth as possible

Anyways, the pilot will be here soon and I hope u guys enjoy it when it comes out. You may remember that I have been working on Wizard Kin ever since i finished Collin and the Wishing Tree. I actually managed to finish 2 minutes of the animation before I went back to the drawing board because those two minutes actually were done on mainly a mouse. It didn't look as natural as it could have, but now that I have a tablet its looking like tv.. or atleast really awesome quality.

So hopefully school work wont hinder my workflow. I know I have like atleast 3 animated projects that i have to do, but i don't plan on releasing those. Those will be just practice animations, like cycles and etc. Nothing special. It'll be in my demo at the end of the year though, so that should be pretty cool... my first demo

So now, if u read this far, you are probably wondering what Rx is about. Well, I started writing a script that will hopefully be turned into a graphic novel. I can't say much about it, but the story is coming out surprisingly well. I'm actually mad that i didn't come up with it earlier. But anyways, I am hoping to make the format something like epileptic... layout wise. Well thats all the news i have thus far.... peace

Edit: Finally I realized that I need to start reading stuff more. I guess I got too excited. Anyways, here is the deal. Apparently when I was signed in on the website, i was only seeing the price without my markup fee because it was a "personal purchase". Now i understand what Luis was saying when he found out how much it cost. I really didn't mean for it to be that much, and i just bought my own art thinking I would somehow get the money back, but oh well. You live an you learn. So I'll be taking the Rtil route and probably just get this stuff in bulk. If you still want to purchase it go ahead, but I'm trying to find a way to print this stuff myself so it will be cheaper for you guys. I am thinking long and hard at the moment: "thats what she said".

So far I have only made one print to sell in my gallery. I will definitely be making more artwork. I thought I would sell some prints because my friends are always asking me if they can have something whenever I draw some art. So I thought it would be better to just sell them since they aren't doing much sitting in my cabinet. For better quality I will be scanning them and tracing them in flash so you can get the best quality.

You can buy the prints and choose any canvas or paper for the artwork to be printed on. It's up to you really! Anyways, I price mine fairly cheap. Not trying to rob you guys. It would be cool if people bought some though. Like I said ill be making one every 4 to 5 days hopefully. The smallest will run from 8 dollars and on canvas they are 16 because of how expensive they are. Well, I order myself one so i can hang on my wall and ill be showing you guys soon once I get it in the mail. Here is a link to my profile:

Buy a Print or Canvas on my page

I just got it so I'll be updating it with pics and stuff.

In other news, I am still animating for my project Wizard Kin. I'm also doing something for Rudy's in my arms collab, danomano's (our Queeroes collab), and the Street Fighter collab. I am still gonna try to make something for the spam colalb, but I don't know if I can squeeze it in. Well, that's about it you guys, enjoy the available print you can buy below

PS: I recommend buying them without the canvas so you wont have to shell out that much money. The set price I put down was 20 dollars, so it calculates the other prices based on the canvas, or if you just want a regular print, or on a frame, or etc. I ordered my as just a print. The frame would have cost me way to much. Anyways the print ranges from 8 to 12 and the canvas i forgot, but its on their so check

SuperPS: Also if you have an idea for a print that you would definitely buy, drop me a pm or leave a comment. I will totally make it based on what you give me as long as its not inappropriate or anything

EDIT: There is a new print up in the store called Your Brain On Technology. Check it out on the same link above

IF YOU EXPERIENCE A THE PRICE BEING MORE EXPENSIVE THEN IT SHOULD BE LET ME KNOW. THE PRINTS SHOULD ONLY RANGE FROM 8.49 (petite) TO 32.99 (massive). Let me know if its way higher than it should be. This things been glitching all day :/

I just started a blog in an attempt to make myself look a tad professional and keep my fans informed. I'll be updating it as much as I can. Basically, I'll be posting up what I'm working on and what I'm doing animation-wise. If you want to check it out, then click here to go to my PRODUCTION BLOG

Anyways, I finished another animation for a charity contest. Took me only like four days. I just wanted to get it out of the way to get back to Wizard Kin. I think I did good for a four day animation. That's probably the quickest I ever made something. Anyways, my friend Andrew is scoring it as we speak, so you wont see it until he finishes.

Also, there are two questions I want to ask you guys out there and it would really help me if I got some answers. Here I go:

1. Whats the best way to turn my swf. into a video file?

I always find it difficult to convert my swf to a video file. I even downloaded like 5 converting programs, but they never work. Either they freeze because I'm using Vista, or have a watermark on them that I can't get rid of unless I pay. I may just end up paying, but if you have any alternatives, it would really help me out.

2. What do you think is a reasonable price for commissions?

I want to start doing commissions when summertime rolls around, but I can't come up with a good pricing for commissions. The averages I came out with made people say, "be reasonable man!". So if anyone can come up with a good pricing, let me know. I want to know how much I should price someone for every minute of animation I do or what should I receive daily, or hourly.

Well, that's about all the news I have. Good luck to everyone who participated in the Christmas contest. There were a lot of good submissions this year

For the poeple with short attention spans that don't feel like reading this. I will quickly summarize what I'm trying to say. Obviously people aren't reading the thread entirely. (Clears his throat). I am not trying to do anything at the moment involving a animated film. I am just expressing what it would take to do something like it and hopes for there being a collaboration to do an animated film. No the film doesnt have to be 100 mins long. That's just a maximum. For the people who think I just want people to do work for me, that is not the case. I would definitely put my time in animating a part of the project if it were to happen. This is just a case of What IF. Nothing is official. No of course there is no story to even make an animated film for the person who wanted to know. I explain that you would of course need writers and even then, people will tend to not want to animate other peoples stories. Yes it would be hard, yes you would need a story (duh), yes i understand all the problems that will arise

I had this thought on my mind all the time... why don't I make a movie. I always wanted to make a film. My goal in life before I die is to create a film one day. I don't care if it sucks or stands the test of time. As long as I finish it, then that would make me happy. So, I look at all the artist on Newgrounds and ask myself, why don't we all collaborate on a movie. Making a quality animation for me takes about a month for every 2 minutes of animation. Now, I don't mind making a short animation for a film festival. Actually, later in 2009 I plan on making a submission for film festivals so I can get a head start on my independent career. I seriously want to be an independent animator, so in order to do it I have to take the steps to become exactly that. But anyways, let me get to the point I was trying to make

There are a ton of incredible artist, writers, and voice actors all around Newgrounds. If I made a list right here and now, it would take me the entire day. Basically, there is a lot of talent. If we could group all of these people together, we could definitely come up with a movie in a period of about a year. If it takes me a month to do 2 minutes of animation, then think of what 50 or more animators could do in a year. I think if there was a collaboration to create a movie on Newgrounds, it would help people understand the process that goes into making an animated movie. It would be an incredible journey and a great learning experience. Who hasn't ever wanted to make or be a part of a movie?

Anyways, I've been trying to gather ways to go about doing this so it would actually be a feasible goal. Usually, animated movies never exceed 100 minutes. As an animator and a student, I would probably never have the time to complete an animated film at that length. It would take me years, if not a decade of working on the animation. I would love to put the time into something like that, but doing everything by myself can be a hassle.

If you handed each animator maybe like 2 to 4 minutes over a period of about 7 months, they will come out with some beautifully done line animation. Then when the months have ended, you can compile all the work, and come out with an animation that can turn into a movie. It sounds easy when I type it, but then I run into the problem of people who have trouble working with someone's style of drawing that may drastically differ from there's. If there is in fact gonna be a collaboration such as this, we would have to all convert to one style of animation to keep things similar. That's the only way it can be done, unless the project was gonna be like the Animatrix, but generally the artwork has to be exactly the same. So we would need concept artist to come up with the style. If you are gonna work on these types of animation, then you have to learn to change styles in order to make a more fluid animation. Usually 3d animations already have the character models set up for use and all the animators have to do is put them in poses. However, for 2d each animator has to learn to be able to animate what they are given for concept art.

Anyways, If we could get really great animators to join in making a colaborative movie one day, that would just be astounding. Maybe next year after I finish my projects, I'll start to make this collaboration. Or maybe, someone else will come along and make it themselves.

Everytime I think of making a collaborative movie, I always think about the script and the story. Its hard to get people to commit to one story and one story only. Sometimes, people may not agree and want to add something so they can animate the way their own scenes. The only way to make sure that it is fair is if no animators partake in writing the script. It would have to be the script writers that help writing. It would be good though to have everyone, writers, artist and actors to add things they would like to see in the story however before any writing is ever done. It would be great if there was already a script made and we had artist come in who read the script and want to join because they love the story. Those would probably be the best ways. It would be cool though to get writers into it as well.

Background artist and concept artist will have to do the same thing the animators do and come up with one style to go with. The backgrounds have to go from background to background just as well as the animation.

I think in the long run, for this to happen, we definitely have to appoint a director, someone who can manage the entire project. I wouldn't mind doing it myself, but I doubt anyone wants to listen to me direct them. It would have to be an admin, or someone people respect more. It would be pretty cool if Tom Fulp orchestrated the whole thing, or even Mindchamber or Johnny Utah for that matter. If it had to me, I would definitely put in the time to make it happen, I just doubt people would want to join me anyways :). Put hey, I will be glad to orchestrate something like this whenever I get the chance next year.

So yeah, a movie made by the people, for the people would be an excellent collaboration. I would love to see some newground artist come together and make something for film festivals or even movie theaters. You never know. If you guys would be interested in that sort of thing, let me know. I will try my best to put together something solid so people can join. There would be alot of documents for me to write up so everybody knows what they are doing and etc, but I think that this collaboration, if it were to at least be attempted, would be a great experience. Even if it is never finished, it was still atleast attempted and thats all that matters. It would be good if it was finished and complete though :).

Well, thats all I have to say on the matter. I think my love for animated films makes me want to accomplish something like this one day. I was watching Iron Giant for the 200th time yesterday and Paprika (by the way, if you have never watched this movie, get off your ass and watch it because the animation is surreal), and everytime I watch movies like these, I keep asking myself... when will I make something like this. Well, hopefully a collaboration can happen. Well, to end this post, here are my top 5 2d animated movies for you guys to check out:
Iron Giant
Paprika
Akira
Lilo & Stitch (made me cry)
Lion King

I wish that American Studios still made animated films, but what can you do?

Well I finally finished this bad boy. Took me about a month and a half. Andrew Sinclair did an excellent job with the musical score. I want to thank Deven Mack and Francine Louise for doing the voices in this. It was great working with them again. I hope you guys enjoy it. It's a story that's really close to my heart. Now hurry up and go watch Little Aviator

Also, I started making sprites for a robot action platformer game I had in mind. I just started drawing as soon as I finished Little Aviator. Its actually turning out to look like a badass action game. The next movie ill be doing is Wizard Kin over christmas break and this game. I don't know when I'll finish them, but I'm just letting you guys know I'm starting something new. Well that's about it for now.

Here is a pic from Little Aviator

Yep, I finished little aviator if anyone wanted to know. If you guys are wondering why I haven't posted it up yet, well its mainly because I'm waiting for Andrew to finish up the musical score. It should be out sometime this week so keep an eye out for that. Now that i finished, I'm actually incredibly bored and waiting to find something else to work on. You'd think I'd be ecstatic about finishing, but im just really bored. Can't tell you why really. I guess i just need to animate something.
I can't wait to start on the boogley collab and the Johnny Utah one, whenever that's suppose to start. Anyways, Imma just surf newgrounds a bit. I'll make a front page post when i release Little Aviator. Well, peace peoples!

Quick note though: I still want to explore my animation chops a bit. Little Aviator is good, but i feel like I can top that. But im pretty sure when i do my next project, I'll say the same thing. Whenever I finish something I never feel like its good enough... I don't know why I do that. Maybe I just expect too much out of myself :P

Anyways, here is a pic to savor your appetite for my new project...